Yes! I am beginning to get the hang of landings. Today was warm, around 50 degrees out. But there was a decent crosswind. Before I began flying my flight instructor sat me down and gave me a landings pep talk. She told me that I am in control of the plane. The plane will do as I say. If it is not time for the plane to land then do not allow the plane to land. I must be in control of three very important things. Three things that I was working on in the last lesson. I must control and maintain airspeed, glide slope, and staying on the centerline. I also must pay attention to looking out my window. I can glance at my instruments to make sure my airspeed and altitude look appropriate but I must be able to recognize change. I must improve my ability to see a physical change in the runway I am looking at. Are the houses below me getting larger or smaller? Am I still parallel to the runway? Flying requires a person to think three dimensionally. In a car one must monitor the direction and speed of the car. In a plane a pilot must monitor, control, and maintain speed, direction, and altitude....and recognizing a visual change in the immediate surroundings.
These techniques must be gained through experience. As I continue to practice my landings my ability to think in three dimensions has improved.
Today I recognized how much I have improved. I was able to maintain airspeed much better than last Friday. My glide slope looked great. I mastered fighting the crosswind and stayed on the centerline after my second landing.
I worked on simulated engine failure again and I was on a modified final approach for runway two niner. I was coming up to the runway at a weird angle and as I turned to line up with the centerline I pulled back on the stick instead of just rolling the wings slightly. This caused my airspeed to drop from 60 knots to 45 knots. Guess what? Don't pull back on the stick. It adds drag and slows the plane down and the plane drops drastically. I added power and executed a go-around.
The next two attempts I landed but I continued to fail to flare the plane. I succeeded in maintaining everything else for a good looking landing but my flare did not exist. Hard landing number 3.
My last landing was perfect. I lined up nicely on final approach for runway two niner. I put in a nice right aileron to combat the crosswind and stayed on my centerline. I was over the runway threshold. I flared the nose and continued to add back pressure to the stick. The landing gear kissed the runway. It was so smooth. Guess what? I didn't keep back pressure on the stick and the nose was about to drop on the ground but my flight instructor blocked my attempt to let off the back pressure and I saw the nose maintain its pitch as the plane continued to slow and I slowly lowered the nose for a gorgeous touch down and landing!
It was so nice to feel a graceful pleasant landing. I have confidence that I will be able to master the art of landing a plane and maintaing a proper glide slope.
I'm glad it was a nice warm day for flying. It makes it much easier on my fingers and toes when they are not freezing cold.
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